By Chris Tresson

So I reviewed the first issue of this series when it came out and overall, I wasn’t impressed by it. I’m a firm believer that if you don’t like the first issue of something, you should at least pick up the second issue to see if your opinion can be swayed… This is my review of Vertigo’s Frostbite #2 by Joshua Williamson and Jason Shawn Alexander.

Right from the first page of this thing, I’m second guessing whether I actually read the first issue or not. I’m completely lost and trying my hardest to actually remember what went on in the issue before this. It wasn’t a very memorable first issue, and that is the only thing that sticks in my brain about this series so far. The last issue had a few points that I could talk about, this issue, though… Nothing really happens in this issue. You I think you could pretty much skip it and still be able to know what’s going on. I’m sure any/all key information will be reiterated further down the line. I started to remember some bits from issue one because Williamson keeps reminding you throughout about little bits of information that are integral to the plot.

It didn’t take long into this issue before it began to bore the living shit out of me. It takes pretty much 14 of the 22 pages of this thing before anything actually happens that might be seen as moving the plot forward a bit. The majority of it is the characters talking to each other (and walking around) You do get a little bit of a reveal as to why the main character is even bothering to entertain this young girl’s trip to Alcatraz, though… and it’s not for the good of humanity. It’s revealed on a splash page, and wasn’t all that much of a surprise to me. It was pretty obvious that the main character would have some ulterior motive as to why she’d even help in the first place… She killed that girl’s da for fuck’s sake. Something tells me she’s not the sort of girl who helps people out without getting something out of it for herself… I’m about 70% sure there will be a point further down the line where she redeems herself for killing the old man, probably by sacrificing herself for the greater good or some shit like that… I don’t know. All I know is that it has another three issues before it’ll even get to that point, and I can’t read any more of it.

The story really hasn’t done anything for me. There’s nothing new or exciting about it, it’s just another sci-fi story that’ll disappear into the genre and cease be talked about again once the series concludes. The art is still good, that’s its one saving grace, but the art isn’t enough to keep me hanging around.

So for me, Frostbite #2 wasn’t great, but at least I managed to get to the end of it. If you’re following it, I’m thinking that the next issue will probably have all the action in it that this issue was lacking. From that final page, I think it’s about to turn into Mad Max: Fury Road on Ice up in this piece… You’ll have to let me know though, because I won’t be reading it.

On second thoughts, don’t. I don’t really care.

SCORE: 2/5

Frostbite #2
Writer: Joshua Williamson
Artist: Jason Shawn Alexander
Publisher: Vertigo Comics
Price: $3.99
Format: Mini-Series; Print/Digital